White Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry The Racial Project in Explaining Mass Shootings

Abstract

Mass shootings, such as the ones that occurred at Columbine, Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois University, and Fort Hood receive considerable attention in the public arena. Though race is seldom highlighted as a significant consideration in mass shootings, this paper considers the way in which the race of the perpetrator influences the response of the media and the public to these tragedies. Mass shootings are viewed through the lens of Omi and Winant’s (1994) racial formation theory. The prominence given to the race of the perpetrator when the shooter is of any race but white and the deliberate omission of race in discussions of white shooters suggests a racial project that results in both white privilege and an opposing “forever foreigner” status for non-­whites.